Darrelle Revis should be glad the New York Jets are thinking about trading him.

Did you follow the Jets this season? They have about 99 problems, and Revis' situation is just one.

At this stage of his career, Revis would benefit from a change of scenery. He is a 27-year-old cornerback coming off knee surgery for a torn ACL. Even if Revis returns and proves he is still the NFL's best corner, another long-term contract with the Jets is not in his best interests.

First of all, the Jets don't want to pay Revis what he is seeking, and he can become a free agent after next season. Other teams want Revis. He has leverage, a precious commodity in the short lifespan of an NFL player. Revis owes it to himself to use that leverage and get more than the Jets are willing to pay.

His knee injury was a reminder of that old saying — NFL really stands for Not For Long.

Revis has said he wants to retire as a Jet. Which raises this question.

Why?

Loyalty is an admirable trait. But here's a news flash. The Super Bowl will be at MetLife Stadium next year, and the Jets won't be its host. They are much farther from being a Super Bowl team than they were two years ago. Unless new general manager John Idzik seriously upgrades the offensive talent, the Jets are in for a few more seasons of misery, no matter how long Rex Ryan stays, or doesn't stay, as coach.

That's why the Jets are not crazy for exploring Revis' trade value. He is their best player, but even with him, they must get better at so many positions to compete with the league's elite. Trading Revis could give them more ammo in the draft to fill their holes.

Because the Jets can't put the franchise tag on him, per the contract negotiated by former GM Mike Tannenbaum, they can't stop him from leaving a year from now anyway. So why not find out what a trade could bring?

Asked if he would be open to the possibility of dealing Revis at his introductory press conference Thursday, Idzik said, "I think it's way premature to say anything specific. Again, I haven't even had the chance to sit down and thoroughly vet through our roster with Rex, his staff (and) with our personnel staff.

"One of our first steps is to go through our roster in detail. That includes (Darrelle), that includes everybody on the roster. Then develop a comprehensive plan off of that. But it's still a little premature to say."

Revis had no trouble reading between those lines. Idzik did not rule out a trade, and that was enough to make Revis tweet: "I'm speechless by far but more importantly I feel more upset for the jet nation for having to go through this!!! I guess we'll see how this plays out."

A few hours after Revis' tweet, Idzik reached out to the cornerback with a phone call explaining his position. Idzik told NBC's Pro Football Talk on Friday that Revis "reacted well" to the call. "We haven't taken that first step, and that's what I relayed to Darrelle," Idzik told PFT.com.

Revis should not fret.

Although the Jets are not about to trade him to another team in the AFC East, imagine if they dealt him to the Denver Broncos? We know John Elway is not afraid to make bold moves. Elway just saw his secondary get roasted by the Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs. The idea of having Revis must make Elway's heart beat just a little bit faster. And imagine Revis standing on the sideline, watching Peyton Manning play quarterback for his team instead of Mark Sanchez — does that sound like torture?

Or how about the San Francisco 49ers, another contender that could use secondary help? Imagine if the 49ers lose the Super Bowl and their secondary has a bad day. Revis could be viewed as a fix. Why wouldn't Revis welcome a move to the 49ers? They don't just talk about Super Bowls. They actually play in them.

Jets owner Woody Johnson refused to rule out trading Revis, but he told reporters Thursday that he expected Revis to recover from his knee injury.

"I saw Darrelle the other day and if you looked at Darrelle, I think he's going to come back and be 100 percent," Johnson said. "I don't think there's any question. I'm confident he'll be good. This is an injury you can come back from today that maybe 20 years ago you couldn't, but now you can."

Nobody doubts Revis' pride, so he will be driven to re-establish himself as the game's best corner. But which team will Revis come back with? As Revis said, we will see how this plays out. However, he should not be losing any sleep. If the Jets deal him, a great player could easily find himself landing in a better situation.